Book-holder.



J. R. BURNETT.

BOOK HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9, 1912.

1,038,280. Patented Sept. 10,1912.

. l 39 ,r 7 l gain mew zfiar g gg Attorneys JAMES R. BURNETT, 0FI-IEISSON, WASHINGTON.

BOOK-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 10, 1912.

Application filed April 9, 1912. Serial No. 689,650. 1

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, JAMEs R. BURNETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Heisson, in the county of Clarke and State of lVashington,have invented a new and useful Book-Holder, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to book holders, its object being to provide asimple and compact device of this character adapted to H hold bookswhile open, the said device being adjustable to books of differentsizes.

A further object is to provide a holder of this character which is cheapto manufacture and which can be readily placed in or w. removed fromposition upon a book.

. A further object is to provide a holder which has means whereby it canbe connected to a stand for the'purpose of supporting a book in positionto be read.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings thepreferred form of the invention has beenshown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a front face view of the holder. Fig.2 isa top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a section on line AB Fig. 1. Fig. 4.is a section on line CD Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section on line E-F Fig. 1.Fig. 6 is a section on line GH Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectionthrough theholder and showing the same combined with a pencil adapted tobe used as a back braceor support for a book engaged by the holder. Fig.8 is a perspective view of the supplemental book support which may becombined with the holder.

Referring tothe figures by characters of reference 1 designates a slideformed in a single length of heavy wire bent to form an elongated loop 2from which extend parallel spaced arms 3 constituting the terminalportions of the wire. The sides of the loop 2 are preferably fartherapart than are the arms 3 and the free extremities of the arms-3 areslotted, as shown at 4:. These slots are designed to receive a band 5which extends across the space between the arms3 and merges into eyes orsleeves 6, the terminals of the band 5 being extended toward each 1other through the slots 1 and then wrapped partly around thearms 3 asclearly indicated at 7,, in Fig. 6. A spacing plate or block.8 1nay berivetedor otherwise secured to that portion of the bando between thearms 3 so as to prevent the arms from springing toward each otherthereby to form a rigid structure.

The eyes 6, are slidably engaged by arms 9 which'are parallel and whichare formed Qf the end portions of a wire bent upon itself as'at 10,.thus to form a slidepthedistance between the two arms 9 being equal toor slightly greater than. the distance between theoutermost portions ofthe arms 3 so that said arms are thus free to project be tween the saidarms 9, as shown in the draw:

ings. The free ends of the arms 9 are formed with slots 11 adapted toeach receive intermediate portions of a band 12 which is bent to form aneye 13 projecting beyond the inner portion of the arm 9 and arcuatcwings 14 which extend partly around the outer portion of the arm. Thisstructure has been shown in Fig. 7 The eyes 13 are adapted to receiveand guide the arms 3.

' A backing plate 15 may be arranged in rear, ofthearms 3 and 9 at apoint midway between the bands 12 and 5 and the upper and lower ends ofthis plate are preferably outturned as shown at 16, so as to extendpartly around the-arms 9. A binding screw 17 engages the middle portionof plate 15 and the head thereof is adapted to bind on the arms 3 so asto thus hold the arms against movement relative to the band 5.

The upper endof'the plate 15 is forked,

as shown at 18, and is hingedly connected by means of a spindle 19 orthe like, to a wing 20 extending from a split collar 21, the outer endof the wing being preferably beveled so as to constitute a support forthe plate 15 and hold it at an acute angle to the axis of curvature ofthe split collar 21. A binding screw 22 may be extended through thesplit collar 21 at one end so that by tightening the screw, the collarcan be caused to clamp on a standard 23 of any suitable form insertibleinto the collar.

Slidably mounted between the arms 9 is faces in which the arms 9 areadapted to' rest, the block being provided, on its front face, with ahousing 26. A pin 27 is mounted for rotation within this housing and aspring 28 is secured at one end to the pin and at its other end to theblock 24 and serves to hold the pin normally in a predeterminedposition. A clip 29 is secured to the end of the pin 27 and ispreferably formed with an outturned terminal 30 constituting a fingerpiece whereby the pin can be readily swung outwardly away from the arms9. As the clip is secured to the pin 27 so as to rotate therewith, itwill be apparent that, during the movement of the clip away from thearms 9, the pin 27 will be rotated and the spring 28 will be placedunder increasedstress. Another block 31 similar to the block 24 ismounted within the loop 2 and is adapted to slide therealong, this blockbeing likewise provided with a clip 32 similar to the clip 29 and whichis connected to the block in the same manner as is clip 29.

. In using the device the arms 3 and 9 are shifted relative to eachother so as to permit an open book to be placed thereagainst between theclips 29 and 32. The slides made up of these arms 3 and 9 respectivelycan then be shifted toward each other or, if preferred, the blocks 24and 31 can be moved toward each other so as to bring the clips 29 and 32into engagement with the exposed faces of the open book. This positionof the parts has been indicated in Fig. 2, a book being shown by dottedlines in said figure. Whenever it is desired to turn a page the clipengaging said page is pressed outwardly away from the page, the page isthen slipped frombehind the clipand is inserted back of the opposedclip. The book can be held, in an inclined position by providing' theconnection shown in Fig. 3, the split sleeve 21 being adapted to engagea standard 23. If desired, however, the standard can be dispensed withand a spring clip, such as shown at 33, can be employed, this clip beingpivotally connected to a wing 34 extending rearwardly from the backplate 35 similar to the plate 15.' This arrangement has been shown inFig. 7. Where a spring clip 33 is employed, a pencil or the like, suchas shown at 36,,can be inserted i into the clip and used as a brace orsupport for holding a book in inclined position upon a table or otherstructure.

By removing the plate 15 or 35, the opened book with the holder thereoncanbe held in the hand. and, when not in use, can be placed, backdownwardly upon a table. In this event the blocks 24 and 31 willconstitute supports for holding the arms 3 and 9 and the bands 12 and 5out of contact with the table top. It is to beunderstood that the blockscan be ofsoft wood or can be provided, upon their back or lower faceswith any suitable protecting means whereby injury to the table on whichthe holder is placed will be prevented.

Where heavy books are to be held in the device herein described, theclips 32 will notalways be sufficient to prevent them from slippingdownwardly. Therefore it is deemed desirable to combine with the plate15 a rack made up of a strong wire bent to form side arms 37 and anoutstanding intermediate portion 38 which forms a ledge on which thebook may rest. The terminals of the wire are bent forward at rightangles, as shown at 39 and are adapted to be seated in openings 40within the plate 15. Thus it will be apparent that when the book is inposition in the holder, the lower edges of its cover can be engaged andsupported by the ledge 38. The use of such a supplemental supportingmeans is of course unnecessary where the holder is used as shown in Fig.7. When a book is to be supported on a ledge or rack, the plate 15 or 35can be removed and the book tilted back on the rack or ledge, theholder, under these conditions, serving merely as a means for holdingthe book ooen.

What is claimed is 1. A book holder including oppositely disposedinterfitting slides each including a single length of wire bent upon1tself to form parallel arms, the arms of one slide fitting between thearms of the other slide, means carried by the free ends of the arms ofeach slide for slidably engaging the arms of the opposed slide, and aclip carried by each slide.

2. A book holder including oppositely disposed interfitting slides eachincluding a smgle length of wire bent upon itself to form parallel arms,the arms of one slide fittlng between the arms of the other slide, meanscarried by the free ends of the arms of each slide for slidably engagingthe arms of the opposed slide, and a clip slidably connected to eachslide.

3. A book holder including oppositely disposed interfitting slides eachincluding a single length of wire bent upon itself to form parallelarms, the arms of one slide fitting between the arms of the other slide,means carried by the free ends of the arms of eachslide for slidablyengaging the arms of the opposed slide, a block slidably connected toeach slide and projecting beyond the face thereof to constitute asupport, and a clip connected to each block.

4. A book holder including oppositely disposed slides telescopicallyconnected, a back plate detachably and adjustably connected to theinterfitting portions of the slides, clips carried by the slides, and asupport engaging element pivotally connected to the back plate.

5. A book holder including interfitting slides, clips slidably connectedto the respective slides and oppositely disposed, a back plateadjustably and detachably connected to the slides, and a supportengaging clip pivotally connected to the back plate.

6. In a book holder, oppositely disposed slides each consisting of asingle length of wire bent to form parallel arms, the arms of one slideprojecting between the arms of the other slide, there being slots withinthe free terminals of all of the arms, bands secured within the slotsand bent to form terminal eyes, the arms of each slide being mounted toslide within the eyes carried by the other slide, and clips connected tothe respective slides.

7. A book holder including telescopically connected slides, oppositelydisposed clips carried b the respective slides, and a supplement-a booksupport extending downwardly below the slides.

8. A book holder including interfitting slides, clips slidably connectedto the respective slides and oppositely disposed, a

back plate adjustably and detachably connected to the slides, a supportengaging member adjustably connected to the back plate, and asupplemental booksupport extending downwardly from the back plate.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES R. BURNETT. Witnessesz' B. J. BELL, GEO. H. CURTIoE.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents,

. Washington, D. G.

